Home birth with a midwife

[ardeur]

I think I have decided on having a natural, homebirth. I am not pregnant yet, and don't have plans for a while... but I feel really convicted to have my children at home. My mother gave birth 9 times, but only one was at home and she LOVED it. Every single time she gave birth in a hospital, she came home with horrible infections and/or viruses. She had terrible complications from being induced when it wasn't necessary. She was sick of the doctors pressuring her to do things she didn't want.

How do you guys feel about midwives and home births? I would love to hear stories.

Oh! Don't get me wrong, I'm not considering banning all prospect of going to the hospital if there appears to be complications or if I end up having a risky pregnancy or birth.

I'm REALLY excited about this, though.

 

[KristiLee]

I had my first homebirth on Aug 6, 2008. It was by far the most indescribably amazing experience. We did unassisted, and it was lovely to just relax at home with no concern over making it to the hospital or having someone make it to the birth. I won't go to the hospital for any future births (unless, of course, the Lord leads us to). We aren't anti-doctor but we do see a lot of what they do at births as unnecessary and quite invasive. In some cases, even robbing families of the best experience they could have (most unknowingly).

I wouldn't advise anyone to do a homebirth without educating themselves of all the pros and cons and being prepared for what is to take place. But with all of that taken care of, I would say there is NO better way to welcome your baby into the world. It was certainly the most blessed experience of my life.

 

[gracepaints]

I'm totally doing it next time. Have you seen The Business of Being Born?

Oh, and FTR, I had a GREAT intervention free, unmedicated hospital birth in an OB. It can be done. You just to have to be very informed and very choosy.

 

[KristiLee]

Yes, the hospital I went to with my first 2 births is a pretty decent hospital and don't push on too much intervention; for me it was too much though, but I'm sure if we had a birth plan requesting intervention free I don't know that they would give too much of a hard time about it depending on the doctor. I'm sorry for not saying anything positive about the doctors! Thank you GP for helping me recognize that in my post (intentionally or not ). My hope was only to emphasize how extremely wonderful the homebirth was. I especially enjoyed getting to sleep in my own bed and cuddling with my husband instead of sleeping in the awfully uncomfortable hospital bed suited for only one while my husband slept in an awkward reclining chair (or not able to sleep in at all) and it was nice to have my children join in on the excitement of meeting their newest sibling.

 

[gracepaints]

I especially enjoyed getting to sleep in my own bed and cuddling with my husband instead of sleeping in the awfully uncomfortable hospital bed suited for only one while my husband slept in an awkward reclining chair (or not able to sleep in at all)

My hospital room had a big queen sized bed that came out of the wall. It was bigger than our bed at home.

 

[~*~Sunflower~*~]

I haven't had a midwife attended birth, but my last 4 births were unassisted & amazing! Sometimes hospitals do have their place for birth, but homebirth is wonderful!

 

[ido]

I had midwives attending for both of my births, but they were also both in the hospital. My first birth, I did have drugs/epi. The second time around, I went completely natural and much preferred it and wish I would have done it the first time. I did not have an episiotomy either time, as I was very against them if not needed and had very minimal tearing both times. If I re-marry and have more children, I will definitely use a midwife again. I don't know how I feel about home birth - I'm not opposed to it, but am not very well read up on the matter so I can't really say how comfortable I would or wouldn't be with it.

 

[Leanna]

I know people (offline) who do this, and i belong to a forum where its "the thing to do."

But I personally have not done it, I used a midwife in a hospital last two times. We are so far from any hospital.... if I needed to be transferred I am not sure about that risk.

 

[Mskedi]

Do your research well. I hope you enjoy the experience and it's safe.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

This might be a stupid question but uhh... what do you do about all the blood and everything else

 

[KristiLee]

We didn't have much to clean-up, but we prepared with sheets and shower curtains that we laid down with the intent of throwing out afterward to keep clean-up easy enough. We anticipated it to be much more than what we had; but conveniently my water broke when I was going to the bathroom and the bleeding didn't begin until after I delivered the placenta, when I then used feminine products for.

There may be more you can do, but that is what we did.

 

[gracepaints]

You can also get chux pads, which are the big absorbant bed pads they use in the hospital.

 

[jgonz]

I had one home water birth out of my ten births, and it was Great! Loved it! Should have done it again... 7 of my other births were natural, in the hospital, 2 with epidurals (hated the epidurals). Anyway, the home birth with the midwife was Definately one of my better experiences (besides the 2 unassisted births In the hospital. LOL)

 

[ShannonMcCatholic]

I had one homebirth and loved it....then I had some placental issues which I thought made it better to go to the hospital...

...but now my OB is quitting the OB part of his practice in order to spend more time with his family, and has said that he'd come attend my birth at home if there ever is another. My on;y hesitation about that is that he doesn't have homebirth experience and so I wonder about the equipment he'd have (oxygen and pit, De LEE, etc.)

 

[rainbowbright]

All the people I know who tried to do a homebirth ended up being rushed to the hospital to end up having a c-section---I can't imagine what a horrible experience that would've been for them, but it was for the purpose of saving their babies. I wish I was able to have an at-home birth with a midwife- I think because of my child-bearing hips, I was meant to give birth, but that being said, I love hospitals. I had one natural birth in the hospital, two with an epi (I'm glad I got one with my twins because my daughter was breech-transverse and ended up having to have an internal extraction). I'm trying very hard to be as natural as possible this time and in fact, this is the first time I am not having to be induced with pitocin.

 

[clycleader]

I had a midwife for my first child and do now with my second pregnancy. I LOVE her. She's awesome. I also have a friend who's a classical homeopath. She has given me natural remedies rather than medications etc.
No home births because I was not a "traditional" pregnancy. I am over 35 so they wanted me to have child/ren in the hospital "just in case" something went wrong. In the end, I was glad I did w/ first because the cord was wrapped around his neck and we nearly had to do C section. Fortunately last minute pushing went well and he was fine.

 

[Called2Grace]

If I could have had the drugs at home then it would have been lovely to have DS at home! And yes, being in my own bed would have been absolutely wonderful as my bed is the best! That was one of the things I loved about coming home, after being in the horrible hospital bed (and not having my sheets changed the entire time I was there...yuck!)

Unfortunately, I tend to have incredibly long and painful labours, and I just can't cope without the drugs. - That and I had a VBAC this time, so was technically classed as higher risk..

But having said all that, if I was lucky enough to be able to have straight forward labours and births I would love to have my babies at home. There is just so much more freedom, and I imagine you would be a lot more comfortable and less anxious.

 

[beehoney]

The thought of a home birth seems comforting but a lot can go wrong and split second life saving interventions are sometimes needed. I'll weather the discomfort of the hospital for the sake of my life and the baby's.

 

[seamonster]

I had weird complications with my first son, so I'm planning a VBAC in a hospital for my next pregnancy. I know I'm going to have to fight for it, but I think it can be done. I think homebirths are great for low risk pregnancies, and I have several close friends who have had them

 

[KristiLee]

A few swears and some nudity... but GREAT information. Watch The Business of Being Born. Awesome information. I'd be willing to challenge the benefits of Pitocin as outweighing the risks... but the experiences in this video is still better than those in a hospital.

Also, for you VBACers, I'd check out ICAN. It's full of really great information.

There are also tons of videos you can watch of homebirths of women who are considered "higher risk" (i.e. VBAC's) on YouTube.

As far as the split second needs, I can't think of any. I had zero interventions but I also did a lot of prep, took good care of myself, and was well educated on how to handle particular circumstances. My son and I couldn't have been healthier OR safer.